When Secret Service Agent Carlos Rodriguez tells Jack Houston St. Clair a secret he has learned about Senator Bill Dumaine, one of the Democrats running for the Democratic nomination to battle Sam in his re-election campaign, gears are set in motion that grind up many of the characters involved in the contest for the Presidency.

When Dumaine loses the Democratic nomination to Governor Douglas Mowbray, but Mowbray taps Dumaine to become his Vice Presidential Running Mate, Colonel Reza Shahzad of the Iranian Secret Police assembles his team to travel to the United States to eliminate Dumaine because of the radical policies he advocates towards Iran.